Maternity Pay and sick pay.

[Babyroobs]

I'm asking this for a friend. Df became ill during pregnancy at around 5 months pregnant and went off sick from work. SMP kicked in at 36 weeks and baby is now a month old. DF has been diagnosed with a serious psychiatric illness and is unlikely to go back to work for the foreseable future.
Can df get sick pay alongside mat pay ? Or does sick pay re-start when smp runs out.? Or should she just try to talk to her HR dept. At what point can she claim ESA?
Any help appreciated.

No, you cannot claim sick pay and SMP together.

If she is unable to work after maternity leave ends then she should follow her work's sickness procedure from the first day she's due back.

I think if age wants to claim SSP after SMP ends (after 39 weeks) she'd need to arrange to 'go back' then but go straight on to sick leave.

I don't know about ESA but I'd talk to HR. It might be better to hand in notice (she will still get Maternity Pay) and then see what benefits are available but CAB is probably the first stop.

Thanks moan.